Grocery shopping can be pretty expensive for the average consumer. And it ends up being much more expensive for those shoppers who aren’t aware of some of the tricks grocery stores use to get people to spend more money once they are in the store.
Here are nine tricks to watch out for so that you can keep more money in your pocket at the grocery store.
Don’t Be Duped by End Cap Displays
- End cap displays are those sets of shelves at the end of every aisle in the grocery store. Some stores have sale items set up on these shelves to make it more convenient for customers to grab sale items. But beware that not all of those end caps have sale items on them. And not everything that is on the end cap is on sale.
When I used to teach coupon classes in Connecticut, I used to use the Fourth of July holiday as an example, so it’s very fitting that I use it now also since the Fourth of July is in a few days. Around the Fourth of July, one can often find picnic supplies set up on an end cap at the store. Usually, there will be a sale on condiments such as mustard or ketchup, but along with that are many other items that aren’t on sale. Items include relish, hot dog and hamburger buns, baked beans, paper plates, napkins, coolers, etc. And most of them aren’t on sale but look good with the sale item.
Now while this may make it convenient for customers to get everything in one place, the less expensive items in this category are usually sitting on the shelves but many customers just load their carts out of convenience and end up spending more money that way.
Don’t fall for the “twofer” deals at the grocery store!
2. The “Twofer” Deal
Stores often advertise sales where a deal is offered on multiple purchases, such as two for $5.00 or ten for $10.00. This often confuses shoppers who think they have to buy two or ten of one item in order to get the deal.
Unless there is specific wording in the sales flier or on the shelf that you have to buy a certain amount in order to get that deal, you don’t have to buy that many items. In most cases, you get one item for the $2.50 price or the $1.00 price in the examples above. This is called “suggestive selling” and because the wording “suggests” you have to buy a certain amount of one item, many shoppers do just that.
If you aren’t sure how many you have to buy to get the sale price, it’s best to ask at the customer service desk or call the store from home before you leave to double check. You can save a lot of money this way by not falling for this gimmick.
Or the “tenfor” deal. You can buy each of these for $1.00 instead of having to buy ten!
3. The Bread and Milk Trick
Grocery stores also know what customers use as staples and bread and milk are two items that shoppers need on a regular basis. Have you ever noticed that bread and milk are either both placed at the back of the store, or one is at the back, and the other is placed far away from it? Grocery stores do this so that customers will have to walk through the store and hopefully will pick up more items along the way, and spend more money in the store.
Think about it: how often do you run to the store for just a gallon of milk and come home with more than that because you walked past something else along the way? It happens to the best of us, but beware that this is designed to get you to spend more money. Stick to buying what you need in order to keep your money in your pocket and not in the store owner’s pocket.
4. The Regular Items in the “Sales” Flyer Folly
Each week grocery stores provide customers with a flyer so they can see what is on sale and plan their shopping list as needed. Beware that not everything in that flyer is actually on sale. If you know the prices of the items you normally buy, you won’t get fooled by this. But many shoppers get fooled into thinking everything in that flyer is actually on sale, and buy items because of that.
To help you with this you can create a price book to keep track of the regular prices on items that you buy often so you will know not to fall for this trick. I have written about how to create a price book in this post:
Make sure you know the coupon policy at the grocery stores you shop at.
5. The Coupon Policy Dupe
Did you know every grocery store has their own coupon policy? Some will let you use as many coupons as you want in one transaction, but that is no longer the norm. Because of “extreme couponers” many grocery stores have limits to how many like coupons can be used in one order so that not all of the store’s stock of an item can be purchased by one or two extreme coupon users.
Where this may cause you trouble is if you like to stock up. You may see a great deal on Maxwell House coffee and have six coupons to purchase six cans of Maxwell House coffee. The store may only accept four of the same coupons in one order. If you didn’t know this in advance, it’s embarrassing to get to the register with your whole cart full of groceries only to be told by the cashier that they will only accept four coupons, not six. And then what should you do?
Should you embarrass yourself by saying you don’t want the extra two if you can’t use the coupons to save money, and risk looking “cheap” to the people in line behind you? Or just buy them anyway and feel duped because the coupon policy wasn’t clearly listed anywhere and you didn’t know what the policy was. A lot of people just bite the bullet and buy the items anyway, and spend more money than they had planned rather than be embarrassed. Don’t let that be you.
Also, some stores double coupons with a face value of up to fifty cents, while some are still doubling coupons with a face value up to 99 cents.
The best way to be an informed consumer and save money at the grocery store is to go to the customer service desk and ask what their coupon policy is. Most grocery stores have a printed coupon policy that you can either look at, or they will provide you with a printed copy.
Extra slices at the deli can steal pennies from your pocket every week.
6. Deceit at the Deli
I guess I used to be a pretty naive shopper, but over the years I have learned a lot. I once overheard the deli department manager at a grocery store tell his workers to make sure to always try to get an extra slice or two on the pile when slicing meat and cheese because most customers don’t mind and every extra slice or two helps the store’s bottom line.
I was shocked at that, and although it makes sense from a store’s point of view, I would rather keep my money in my own pocket than be tricked into giving my money to a grocery store. It is your prerogative as a shopper to tell the deli staff you would rather be under than over, and keep your pennies, which can add up to dollars over the course of a year.
7. The Bakery Bamboozle
Have you ever walked into a grocery store and smelled the enticing scent of baking bread or chocolate chip cookies? Believe it or not, that is on purpose. Grocery stores actually pipe the scents from the bakery so that they permeate the air near the front of the store where customers walk in and can be accosted by those delicious aromas.
Unless bread from the bakery or store made chocolate chip cookies were on your grocery list to begin with, don’t let yourself be bamboozled into spending more money on these items.
8. The Free Samples Scheme
Who doesn’t love free samples? You know I do because if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I love to get free stuff. And free food can be fun, especially if you are grocery shopping with your children and they’re getting a bit antsy.
Well, once again beware, and hold onto your wallet because whether you are offered a free sample and coupon, or a recipe to create with the food that’s being offered, the store is offering you the free samples because they want your money. If you like it and want to use the coupon to save money, great. But the company that is offering you the free sample is doing so hoping that you will love it so much that you continue to buy it, even without a coupon in the future. And that grocery store is hoping you will continue to purchase it there.
And while those free recipe cards are fun, of course, the store is counting on you to buy all of the ingredients to create those delicious recipes right there. Again, if you enjoy it, that’s fine, but some shoppers really don’t have the money to be trying the sometimes extravagant recipes on those cards, so just be careful of what you are buying and why.
And I have also heard of some shoppers who feel bad for the person giving away the free samples so they buy the product out of guilt?! That’s crazy to me, and my goal here is to just remind you to be conservative and stick to your budget when you shop, in spite of the enticing offers at the stores.
9. Candy at the Checkout Counter Maneuver
Don’t you just hate how all of the wonderful single serve candy bars are right at eye level for kids at the checkout counter? Many a peaceful trip to the grocery store with children in tow has had a catastrophic end when the children who are tired from a trip around the many aisles of a grocery store are tempted at the very end by all of that deliciousness.
And when a responsible parent has to tell them that they are on their way home for dinner so can’t have candy now, or heaven forbid, candy bars are not in this week’s budget, kids can make quite a ruckus which can cause an embarrassed mom or dad quite the temptation to either give in, or stand their ground and endure the annoyed stares of other shoppers who either don’t have kids, or weren’t able to leave them at home with another adult to supervise.
That candy is put at the registers for just that reason: to entice children and adults alike to just throw one candy bar in with the rest of their groceries. After all, what’s one candy bar right? Maybe you have had a hard day at work, or a long week at home with the kids, and you deserve a candy bar. Well, one candy bar a week adds up to $52 a year. Think about all of the things you can do with $52, or even $26 a year if you only give in every other week.
So don’t get taken advantage of by grocery stores who care more about their bottom line than yours!
More Warnings?
If you have any other warnings about how grocery stores take advantage of consumers, please feel free to add them in your comments below.
And also, if you liked the content in this blog post, feel free to share it using the social media buttons below, and then leave a comment in the comment section about the social media sites you shared it on so I can give you one entry into the July drawing for each site you shared it on.
Happy saving!
Thank you for all the good shopping tips.
You are welcome Carol. I am glad you are enjoying them. :0)
Thank you for the tips. One thing that bothers me is when items do not ring up the correct price. Interestingly enough, this has happened twice to hubby with the same item. We really enjoy canned crab meat. It runs about $25 a can or a little less. Well, that’s too much! So we wait till the bogo sales. The last two sales , one was bogo and the other was just a reduced price of like $12.99- each time these cans rang up full price at this grocery store. Each time , hubby had to show them the ad to get them to adjust the price. I’m wondering how many times people pay full price because they don’t watch or check their receipts.
I am sharing this post on our bargains and freedbies facebook board. Thank you!
Thanks for the share Lisa. That will earn you an entry into the July drawing. I know what you mean about things not ringing up correctly. I learned a long time ago to watch as items are being rung up because often there is always at least one item that doesn’t ring up right. It is also important to watch out at the cash register for how sale items ring up because quite often some don’t go through at the sale price. If the consumer doesn’t catch it, the store clerk won’t be paying attention. Thanks for your comment.